Interest Groups, Social Movements, and the Bureaucracy: School Politics in Illinois.

Benedict, Kennette M.

Right-wing protests in four suburban Illinois school districts are analyzed in this paper. Two questions are asked: How do administrative organizations respond to protest from extremist groups? Under what conditions do administrators acquiesce to protestors' demands? Three major findings emerged. The first was that the more uncertainty administrators experience in dealing with protest groups, the more likely they are to recommend actions satisfying protestors' demands. Related to administrators' sense of uncertainty are the nature of the issue, administrators' understanding of protestor motivation, the length of successful experience with the materials being challenged, confidence in the teaching and administrative staff, and experience with similar right-wing conflicts. Information gathering that linked protest to large organized protest groups only increased uncertainty because of the unpredictable nature of such groups. The second finding to emerge was that the more community meetings held about the issue, the less likely are administrators to recommend actions satisfying protestors' demands. More meetings offered opportunities for citizen defense of the challenged school policies. The final finding was that the more time and effort spent on the process of protest and response, the more likely are school officials to recommend actions satisfying protestors' demands. (Author/JM)